Pokémon! Delving Into the Indigo League
by ssj5goku5
Summary: Joshua Page is a trainer from Littleroot Town but when he moves all the way to Pallet Town in the Kanto Region he meets a young boy who unknowingly ties him into his journeys across the Kanto Region and far beyond in their quest to be the best that they can be.


** Chapter One: The Ferry Ride to a New Life**

The wind blew hard making the tree leaves shake in the autumn breeze. The sun was just rising over a small town on the southern shores of the Hoenn Region that goes by the name of Littleroot Town. Birds were flying above trying to make it to safe shelter before the wind really picked up. I was busy packing up my stuff down below, getting ready to move away from the town but I took some time to watch as they flew past overhead.

My mom came over and hugged me. "Oh honey I can't believe you're really leaving. Please oh please stay safe." She kissed my cheek and looked at me.

"Mom honest I'll be fine. I know I don't have my own Pokémon yet but soon I will." I looked out onto the river that led into the ocean. "I wonder what I will find over there."

"Hopefully you will find happiness at the very least. Now get your things together, the boat leaves soon." She kissed me one more time then started to carry my bags to the water's edge where a small wooden boat was waiting.

I followed my mother to the boat and started to load my bags onto it. The driver of the boat was a tall man with short cropped black hair and deep blue eyes. He wore a kind smile as my mother approached him. "Anything I can do for you malady?" he asked kindly while bowing.

"Yes, my son is only thirteen. Please watch over him until you reach the Kanto Region. I'd very much appreciate that."

The driver nodded his head and watched as I was putting my bags onto the boat. I finished and looked back on the town that I grew up. The wind was still blowing, giving me a slight chill but it was that wind that I loved so much as a child. I saw a figure running towards us and strained to see who it was.

The figure of a girl came into focus, she had long hair tied up into ponytails on either side and a red bandana on with a large white Pokéball on the side of it. She had a package in her hands as she raced over here. "May I'm right here!" I yelled, waving my hands in the air so she could see.

May was my best friend. I lived close to her and since we were little we hung out and learned all about Pokémon together. Nowadays however she worked with her father out on field work. Her father was Professor Birch, a Poké Professor who studies the habits of the wild Pokémon surrounding the town.

She reached me and stopped running, catching her breath. She put the package in the boat and gave me a huge hug. "Well not much to say now except goodbye." She said, letting go of me. "The package should explain everything. Bring me back some treasure from the Kanto Region okay?"

I nodded my head and looked at her. "I sure am gonna miss you. Wish you were coming along with me, I'm afraid I won't be able to make any new friends over there."

May laughed. "Don't worry knuckle head, just be yourself and you'll have plenty of friends." She hugged me tight again. "Now you better get going."

I turned to my mom. "Mom I'll be safe okay. I'll be home before you know it."

She had tears in her eyes as she hugged me and kissed my cheek. "Write or call home often. I don't want a week to go by without hearing from you and that's an order young man." She kept kissing my cheek.

"Okay mom." I said, kind of pushing her away so I could breathe. "I promise I will write or call as often as I can." She let go of me. I stepped onto the boat. "Goodbye mom, I love you! And goodbye to you too May!" I yelled as the boat pushed away from shore.

My mother just waved but May ran to the bank of the river and I heard her yelling, "Oh and don't forget to bring me home a rare Pokémon from the Kanto Region too!"

I smiled and kept waving till they disappeared from view. Then I sighed as the ocean breeze really hit me. I looked over the edge of the boat and the river was coming to an end. There was a large cruise ship sitting at the docks with people boarding it. I could see people already on it with their Pokémon out and roaming the deck of the ship.

I picked up the package and my bags, I had a suitcase and a couple backpacks with me, and got off the boat. The driver tied it down and stood by me. "So what are you going to do?" I asked him.

"I will accompany you to the Kanto Region then take this cruise ship back home." He answered.

I nodded and made my way to the ship. It was massive, three layers above deck and who knows how many below deck. There were four entry lines along the dock and I got in line for the nearest one. "Are you feeling nervous?" my companion asked.

"A bit yeah. Such a big cruise ship."

"It's the only one in the Hoenn region that takes people to the other regions. This ship won't return to this port for six months."

"Wow that's a long time, how long is the trip to the Kanto Region?"

"A month or longer depending on the weather. It will go by quickly so don't worry. As a matter of fact my first trip was to the Kanto Region. My family took a vacation when I was eight to the port city of Vermillion City. Rather beautiful city and I'm sure if you find yourself battling the Pokémon gyms you will find yourself in that city at some point."

"Wow." We were walking on board the ship. A man stopped us at the top and asked for our tickets. My companion showed him the tickets and we were let on. "A month to get to what town?"

"Oh I believe you are being let off at Pallet Town. It's not a port city but it's roughly the size of Littleroot just a mile or two along a road from the docks we will land at. Now how about you go see your room, its room A39. That's on the bottom floor. Cabins are above deck just so you know."

He went away and left me to find my way to my room. It took a little but I found the hallway that led to the A rooms. It wasn't long before I found mine, unlocked my door, then put my bags down and flopped down on my bed. I looked up at the ceiling thinking about what lay ahead of me. I looked out the window and I had a beautiful view of the ocean. It was mesmerizing to look out and see so much water in every direction.

I finally sat up and looked around the room and noticed May's package just sitting there where I put it. I decided to see what she had given me. I pulled the package to me. It was about two foot square package with brown wrapping on it.

I slid off the wrapping and opened the box. Inside was a not and an even smaller box. I decided it was best to read the note first so I picked it up and looked at it.

It read "Dear Josh, you have been my best friend for as long as I can remember. For that I thank you, it's hard to get lasting friendships these days, or so I'm told. I spoke with dad and he was worried about you, what with your mom being unable to get you a Pokémon before you left and all. Dad is of course off doing field work like usual but he wanted you to have this. I decided to give it to you in a special way so that you don't ever, and I mean EVER, forget me. Well to the point, inside this smaller box is a Pokéball. It contains a freshly caught Mudkip. Dad literally caught it yesterday and said to give it to you. I hope you enjoy having a Mudkip and I hope he can get used to being in the Kanto Region with you. You better come home soon and if you come home with a girl I'm gonna beat your butt!"

I read it through a few more times. It was signed "Love, your best friend in the whole world, May." Which made me smile a bit. I opened the box and sure enough a little red and white Pokéball was sitting in there. I picked it up and looked at it. I couldn't believe the professor had done that for me but then again he was always so nice to me. I always thought it was just because I was May's only true friend. That's what hurt the most about leaving, leaving behind those I truly cared about.

I lowered my hand with the Pokéball in it and looked out the window again. I kind of grasped the ball lightly and it clicked then popped open. A red beam shot out and the figure of a Pokémon took shape. I yelped and dropped the Pokéball in surprise.

After it released the Pokémon it can flying back to my hand. I caught it and stared at the Mudkip. It looked right back at me with a sly smile on its face. "Mudkip." It said.

"Well you're a cute little thing aren't you?" it was small and standing on all four legs. Its body was a deep blue but its underbelly and extra-large tail were silver. It also had a large blue fin standing straight up on its head. Its cheeks were orange and hand a half star design sticking straight out from the cheek. Its beady black eyes were darting around the room.

"Kip kip, Mudkip." It said, bouncing up and down. It looked like a playful little Pokémon and I smiled. I reached down and petted him. He pushed into my hand and rubbed his cheek against it.

"You're a sweet little thing aren't you?" I kept petting him for a tiny. Then I stood up and grabbed the Pokéball. "Well time for you to go back into your ball." I clicked it again. The beam shot out to get Mudkip but he jumped aside. I gasped and looked at it very astounded.

"Mudkip!" it said, shaking its head left and right.

"You don't want to go back into your Pokéball?"

"Kip." It looked at me with big pleading eyes.

"Some Pokémon are like that. Some just don't like being confined to a Pokéball. Most are of course content in them but those that like the fresh air make the most faithful of companions." A male voice said. I looked over at him and noticed a Pokémon by his side. He was about my height, around five foot three inches. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. The Pokémon was about half his height with a red body and black strips along that and his legs. He had a fluffy white tail and a long fluffy white mane. "Take my Growlithe for instance, never been in a Pokéball a day in his life. He started to follow me around the streets on Cinnabar Island and I found out he was just a hungry stray. So I fed him and eventually adopted him. He doesn't like Pokéballs so I don't force him into one."

He finished his story and saw me staring at him blankly. "I'm sorry, where are my manors." He reached out and I shook his hand. "Zachery is the name. I'm travelling back to Cinnabar Island where my mom lives."

"I'm Joshua Page, I'm from Littleroot Town. Heading to Pallet Town to learn more about Pokémon." I let go of his hand.

"What are you trying to learn about them?"

"I want to be a Pokémon trainer. Not to be the best but to learn as much as I can about them and train lots of Pokémon."  
He smiled. "Then how about a battle with me and my Growlithe?"

I looked down to Mudkip. He hopped up and nodded his head in agreement with Zachery. "Fine but where?"

"We are on a cruise ship full of trainers. That also means there's a battle area out on the deck. It might be in use so we might have to wait but let's get there so we can secure a place in line." And he turned to leave. "So come on and follow me."

I threw the empty Pokéball down onto the bed and followed him. Mudkip ran at my side as we raced back to the deck of the ship. We stopped as we got to the middle of the deck where a large battle area was. There were people battling on it just as Zachery thought so we took our place in line. Our battle would be fourth in line so we patiently waited.

"So have you nicknamed your Mudkip?" Zachery asked.

"No, I don't really see the point."

"The point is when you nickname a Pokémon its bond grows ever stronger with you. Of course you don't have to nickname it if you don't really want to."

I sat there thinking for a moment. The line moved quicker than I thought it would and before I knew it we were up on the battle stage with many people cheering at us. We gave our names to the announcer and he started to announce the match.

"It's going to be an exhibition match between Zachery Trelanie and his Growlithe and Joshua Page and his Mudkip. It's seems that Zachery is a trainer from Cinnabar Island while Joshua is from the quiet town of Littleroot. This will be an interesting match pitting a newbie water type against an experienced fire type. Let's watch and see how it turns out!"

I stood across from Zachery. He had a sly smile on his face. "Let's go Growlithe!" he yelled out.

The cheering got louder as Growlithe slowly walked to his side of the stadium. I looked down at Mudkip. "You ready little guy? This is our first battle so I do hope you're prepared."

"Mudkip!" he yelled and raced out to take his place in front of Growlithe. The cheering became even louder as the two Pokémon stared each other down. I watched Zachery as he kept his eyes on me as well. "Mudkip, let's get this started!" I yelled.

The battle began. "Growlithe use ember attack!" Zachery yelled. Mudkip raced forward, weaving in and out of the ember attacks that Growlithe initially shot at him. He was quick but so was Growlithe. Mudkip went in for the shot but Growlithe caught him as he got closer. The ember attack hit his body and mudki8p went flying away, skidding across the ground.

"Mudkip no! Get up little buddy!" I yelled.

Mudkip got back up and shook off the dust. He didn't seem fazed by the attack. He rushed forward again and this time Growlithe was on the move too. Growlithe raced at Mudkip as well. "Meet him head on Mudkip! Tackle attack!" I instructed.

Mudkip jumped over Growlithe and did a one-eighty in mid-air. He landed behind Growlithe and raced forward with a powerful tackle attack. He hit him in the middle of his back and that sent Growlithe scooting forwards. Growlithe lost his balance and rolled over and landed on his back.

"Hit him again Mudkip." I told him. Mudkip jumped up and aimed downwards at Growlithe. He saw it coming though and rolled out of the way as Mudkip landed face first on the ground.

"That's right Growlithe now show him your speed and use Quick Attack!" Growlithe moved forward with amazing speed. He started to go so fast that his image blurred. Mudkip had gotten up and was trying to keep his eye on Growlithe. It wasn't working though because just as quickly as he disappeared Growlithe came back and hit Mudkip hard, sending him skidding along the floor again.

I gasped as Mudkip tried to stand back up. He was wobbly and couldn't really walk. "Mudkip that's enough, come back before you really get hurt." I pleaded. Mudkip just shook his head and made an advance towards Growlithe. It seemed that he was just shaking off the pain but he wouldn't come back so I had to let him finish the battle.

Mudkip raced forward again and pounced at Growlithe. Growlithe dodged the attack again and spun to face Mudkip. "Let's end this with a flamethrower Growlithe!"

Growlithe took a deep breath then shot a steady blast of fire at Mudkip. Mudkip expected that and skirted under the flames and to the left side of Growlithe. "Yes Mudkip, now's our chance. Try the water gun attack!" I yelled, jumping with joy at how Mudkip escaped the flamethrower.

Mudkip inhaled just like Growlithe did and shot out a small stream of water. It hit Growlithe dead on in the side of the head. That sent Growlithe skidding across the floor rolling end over end until he landed next to his trainer's feet. The crowd went wild at the defeat of Growlithe.

"And there you have it folks! After an exciting and grueling match between these two, it is Mudkip who emerges victorious! That was a well-placed water gun attack to end things. And now on to the next match!" the announcer said over the microphone.

Mudkip came running back to me and jumped into my arms. I hugged the little guy and patted his head. "Good job not giving up Mudkip."

"Kip!" he said excitedly.

Zachery met us on our end with Growlithe right next to him. Growlithe seemed to be just fine as he walked over and sat next to his trainer. "What an awesome match Joshua. We should do it again some time."

"Just call me Josh and yeah. I'm gonna be making my way to Cinnabar Island anyways so we might as well battle there when I get there. Raise our Pokémon some more and see who is better." We exited the stadium together.

"Yeah I like that idea. Look me up when you get to Cinnabar. I'll make sure not to go on any lengthy trips again until we have our rematch." He shook my hand again. "I'll be seeing you around there bud." And he left me just outside the stadium door.

The weeks went by quickly. I trained with Mudkip every day to get better and better at working with Mudkip. He mastered the use of the water gun attack and I started him on some other harder moves like mud slap. We were working on it on the last day of the voyage.

"Mudkip try again. This time aim correctly. Use mud slap." I said. Mudkip kicked at the ground, using his water to turn the sand we were on into mud. Then flew up but splattered down right next to Mudkip. "Mudkip if you don't aim then we will never get this move down."

"Kip, kip. Mudkip." He said.

"I know." I reached down and petted his head. The breeze was hitting us a little harder and that meant the sand I laid down for him would be flying around soon. We couldn't have that or the captain would be mad at me so I swept it off into the ocean.

When I got down sweeping I looked out into the water and gasped. Mudkip came over and jumped up to see what I was looking at. He landed on my shoulder and I moved him to the front of my body, holding him in my arms. "Look Mudkip." I point out to the land I saw. "I think that's the Kanto Region."

Sure enough right after I said that the intercom came on. "Folks this is your captain speaking. We will be landing in the port near Pallet town in about thirty minutes. Please gather your things if you are getting off. We are behind schedule on our important delivery to Cinnabar Island. Thank you for your patience and I hope you have a good day."

With that I ran to my cabin, pulling together all my clothes and other assorted items. I would be making my way to Professor Oak's laboratory to meet with him and get my living arrangements. I was so excited I could hardly control my breathing.


End file.
